~ Being Successful- At Work & Play

Monthly Archives: December 2008

One of India’s largest IT companies, the Hyderabad headquartered Satyam, described as a Global IT company has recently been in the news for the wrong reasons. Some days ago, there was a flap in corporate circles when it was announced that the Chairman, Ramalinga Raju wanted Satyam to invest $ 1.6 billion in two companies (Maytas) owned by his sons.

As you grow older are there more ” Don’ts” taking over your life? “Don’t have one more drink” or ” No more chocolates for today” for example. The next time someone tells you not to reach out eagerly for the next slab of chocolate or the next glass of wine, tell them that you have it from an authoritative source that these can actually be good for you. Continue reading →

Many subjects have created waves in our quest to learn who we are and why we behave the way we do. One such subject which continues to fascinate people is that of Body Language- the science of studying non-verbal communication. It is one of the most important aspects of communication and fashions interpersonal relationships.

One more glass ceiling has been broken. ICICI Bank, one of India’s leading banks and financial institutions will have a 48 year old lady at the helm of affairs effective May1, 2009. Chanda Kochhar, currently Dy Managing Director and Group CFO has been appointed CEO & Managing Director .

Many books are released in India these days. Some good, some bad, others indifferent. Few of them have received as much publicity as Nandan Nilekani’s “Imagining India”. The expectations of the book were very high- particularly considering the profile of the author. After all, he is the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Infosys, one of India’s largest IT companies. Continue reading →

It’s very encouraging to see young Indian sportspersons reach heights never reached before. One more in that list is the 18 year old Hyderabad badminton star- Saina Nehwal. She has been ranked No. 10 in the world- an unprecedented feat for a Indian woman.

We remember how well she fought in the Beijing Olympics where she reached the quarter finals of the women’s singles beating the world No. 5, Wang Chen of Hong Kong.

She has reached a major milestone in her career. As her coach, Pullela Gopichand said: she should now set sights on making it to the Top 5.

Sarah Kershaw has an interesting article in the New York Times called ” Family and Office Roles Mix “. It speaks of how our position in a family influences the way we approach issues at work. There have been studies to show these differences in the first born of a family as distinct from the second born and so on. The very environment in which we were brought up does to a large extent influence the way we look at things. The roles we have at home make us, in a sense, adopt those very roles at work.

Even if I say so myself, I am honestly amazed and quite gratified to see that “A Step A Day” has completed one year. Yes, there have been 365 posts in this series which was kicked off with the first being posted on November 27, 2007.

India over the last few decades has thrown up a good number of self-made successes who have become globally famous. Many of them belong to an industry, I have watched closely for several decades, the Information Technology industry. One among them is Nandan Mohan Nilekani, one of the co-founders of Infosys and currently it’s Co-Chairman. He was listed as one of the 100 Most Influential Persons in the World by Time magazine in 2006.

The guns have fallen silent. The terrorists are dead. The city of Mumbai limps back to normalcy after an unforgettable ordeal. It is estimated that 195 people -of many nationalities lost their lives and over 300 are injured-some of them very seriously.